


Redefinition

by mantisbelle



Category: RWBY
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Canon Compliant at time of writing, F/M, Pre-Canon, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-02-16 06:40:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13048581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mantisbelle/pseuds/mantisbelle
Summary: Have you ever met someone and thought to yourself, “They are the personification of this word.”Definitions change. People change.





	1. Justice

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since Blake had her conversation about Sun about how she defines the people around her, I have been dying to write this fic. So here it is, I guess. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Justice_
> 
> noun: the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness.

Blake bumps into a young man as she weaves through the crowds at a faunus rights protest. She isn’t alone- her family is nearby, and she’s going to need to get back to them eventually so they can go home for the night. If she needs to, she can slip off for the night to one of the markets, or get herself away from the chaos for whatever time she can. 

But for now, she has decided to stay there and to see how things go.

The boy is taller than her by more than a few inches. Blazing eyes, vibrant red hair with sharp horns that lie with the grain of it, and he radiates charisma. 

“Sorry.” She says as she edges past, but he looks at her, and she almost feels insignificant under his gaze. 

He’s attractive.

“Wait.” He says calmly but there’s an edge of  _ something _ in his voice. He’s taking a step towards her. Blake watches him. He’s wearing black clothes, the same that she is, but instead of choosing white or purple to compliment it, he’s wearing burning, violent red. It reminds her of fire, of blood, of flowers. “You’re Blake Belladonna.” 

The recognition isn’t entirely unfamiliar. In fact, it's something that she’s used to at that point. When people look at her, they often only see her father. The great Ghira Belladonna. Former High Leader of the White Fang. Chieftain of Menagerie. The imposing figure in white and violet that leads their people  _ forward _ .

Or stagnates them. It depends on who is asked. 

They don’t know him as Blake does. Surely this boy would never be able to imagine the great Ghira Belladonna having tea, or carrying her around on her shoulders. 

In a way, the recognition only serves to set Blake on guard. 

“I am.” She confirms, watching the boy across from her. “Why?”

“No reason.” He replies, watching her closely. “I’m just surprised to see you at a protest, after your father stepped down as High Leader.” 

Blake blinks, because that wasn’t exactly an angle that she’d been expecting for this man to take. She glances back over her shoulder at the crowd. She’s sure that Ilia will still be in there, perhaps she should go and find her. Blake isn’t sure. Maybe continuing this conversation isn’t such a bad idea because this boy seems… interesting. 

“I still believe in the White Fang’s cause. All of us do. Equality is something that we  _ need. _ ” Blake says, hardening her voice and knowing that her ears were beginning to lie flat in irritation. “My father stepping down and taking the position of Chieftain hasn’t changed any of that.” 

The boy reaches out for her with an open hand. He’s wearing gloves, and while Blake could absolutely read into it, she’s not going to. It probably doesn’t matter. “My name is Adam Taurus.” He introduces himself, and his eyes are ablaze with something that Blake can’t quite identify.

She reaches out to return the handshake. “Blake.” She repeats her name, the same way that he had earlier. “Though I suppose you already know that.” 

He smiles at her, and Blake feels a little surprised for it. There’s a slight flutter of something in her chest that she can’t quite identify. His hand pulls away for a moment, and Blake lowers her hand down to her side calmly. “Was there…” She starts. Stops. Watches his face. “Anything that you needed?”

“No.” Adam replies, ever too calmly. “I just wanted to make your acquaintance.” He takes a step back from her, turns, and Blake watches as he leaves. 

For some reason, she can’t get him out of her head that night. 

* * *

 

Blake doesn’t exactly mind. Blake meets Adam again a week later at a different protest. This time she’s gone without her father’s blessing. There were reports the week before, about broken windows and fires that had been set long after she’d gone home. The fact that she’d gone home hadn’t mattered- violence was violence and her family wanted her away from it. 

The fact that she’d be kept from the protest feels like a misguided sort of punishment, so Blake slips out late at night and makes her way to the protest herself. After all, she knows that she won’t be there alone. She’ll have Ilia. 

When she arrives, the docks are already full and clamoring. People have crowded on, all interested in hearing a message communicated that they all need to hear. It’s a regular faction meeting, Blake realizes quickly. The sort of thing that would be arranged and set up with the intent of recruiting other faunus into the White Fang. She’s never really been to one herself- being the daughter of two high ranking members of the organization has a lot to do with it. 

For Blake, she can say that she was born into the White Fang and it’s the honest truth. People that know about her father, about her mother, they would never doubt it. 

Adam is there, and while Blake wasn’t really looking for him, she’s almost glad to see him. Ilia was going to be there as well, but if she was Blake wasn’t exactly expecting to  _ see _ her. Ilia knew how to hide better than anyone and she knew how to pass- Blake was jealous of her for it. There are other things about Ilia that Blake doesn’t even begin to be jealous for. 

But she’s not there for Ilia. She’s not even there for Adam.

She’s there because Sienna Khan is there, and Blake wants to hear what the woman that technically removed her father from power has to say. 

Blake falls into the crowd, and watches the stand at the edge of the docks where Sienna is probably going to climb up and speak. She’s mostly focused on it, occasionally letting her ears swivel to listen in on the conversations around her. 

That concentration is broken by the feeling of someone’s arm bumping against her own. 

It’s Adam. He’s wearing something similar to what he had been wearing last time, but this time he looks more like he’s prepared for a battle. It’s the first time that it occurs to Blake that he’s probably trained to fight, possibly even in a somewhat formal setting. 

For her, who learned out of her family’s home, and who has never fought a proper grimm but is sure that will come soon, it’s strange. Almost exotic. Blake looks at him, and she peels her eyes away to direct her attention towards the front where the great Sienna Khan is making an appearance. 

Almost as soon as Sienna had started talking, Adam was doing the same. 

“What brings you here?” He asks her, bracing himself against a stall at her side. It almost feels like he’s trying to place himself in Blake’s space directly, but the crowded area makes her dismiss that thought. 

Blake doesn’t look up at him. “I wanted to hear what she had to say.” She said quietly, because that was the truth. “And I’m not here, officially.” 

Adam laughs, and it’s a dark sort of laugh. One she’s never heard before. “Daddy didn’t want you to see the woman that made him fall?”

“She didn’t make him do anything.” Blake replied, keeping her voice down because she didn’t want to make a nuisance of herself any more than she wanted to let people notice her. “The White Fang was moving past him. They needed a change in leadership, and he had a better opportunity to be there for our people.” 

“The White Fang is going to lead a revolution.” Adam whispers, his gaze focused completely on Sienna, who stands at the front. “And show humanity what good they really are.”   


Blake glances over at him, and a question comes to her mind that she hasn’t asked before. She’s never seen him around the Albain Twins, and she’s never seen him close to Ilia. A part of her wonders whether or not Adam was from Menagerie like she was. If he wasn’t, he definitely wouldn’t have been the first to come from the kingdoms. 

But really, Blake doesn’t even know if he’s a member of the White Fang. Not officially, at least. 

“It’s a noble cause.” Blake murmurs, still watching Sienna. The woman at the front is standing tall over them, an arm splayed out as she emoted through her speech. “Humanity needs to see us as equals.” 

“And you’re going to fight for it?” Adam asks, his voice still down. “The Belladonna princess?”

“I’m  _ not _ a princess.” Blake bites back without any hesitation, feeling her ears flatten back against her head in irritation. “And I’m not the only one in my family that believes in this cause.” 

“Yet you’re the only one here.” 

Blake sighs, and for the first time she peels her attention away from Sienna Khan so that she can look at Adam instead. “That doesn’t mean anything.” 

Adam is watching her, his attention not leaving her where she was standing for even a moment. He smiles, and its devilish and handsome and Blake wants to remember it forever. “Doesn’t it?” He asks her, and Blake pauses because….

Well, he isn’t wrong, is he? Her parents had tried to stop her from coming. 

Blake sighs. “I know why I’m here.” She says, keeping her voice hard almost like she’s trying to convince herself of it. 

“Justice?”

“ _ Equality _ .” Blake corrects. “For the Faunus to be seen and treated the same just as anyone else.” Her ears twitch at that, and Blake tries to ignore it. She glances back to Adam. “Justice?”

Adam stood there, his eyes glued to Sienna Khan as she spoke on the docks. He looked intense, like he was doing his best to think the words that he wanted to say before he decided to go ahead and say them. Blake watched, curious and unsure of what to do or think or say.    
  
Finally, Adam decided to speak.    
  
"Did you know--" He started, his voice dark and intense in ways that Blake couldn't easily quantify. "That there was another cave in at one of the Schnee mines in Mantle last week."   
  
Blake blinked, because that was something that she hadn't heard about, not directly. In truth, after having heard about cave ins all of her life she was at a point where she was starting to feel desensitized to the news of them. There were some people out there, like Ilia who had lost people to those mines themselves. To them it would always hurt, but for Blake-    
  
Well, the rage that she felt was hard to explain and harder to quantify. It was a more general thing, a greater pain and a longing for something better but-   
  
But she didn't have a good way of explaining those things.    
  
So when Adam asked her if she knew, Blake only had one answer.    
  
"I didn't know about it specifically." She said, her eyes flicking up to the man at her side. He frowned and nodded, and the look did absolutely nothing to lessen how striking his features were. Blake glanced away as soon as she got the chance.    
  
"Figures." Adam muttered, almost like he was growling the word out. "Do you think that their families will get justice?"   
  
"For the cave-in?" Blake asked, pausing. "No. I doubt it. If it really was a Schnee mine, they will do what they need to make themselves look good and then move on."   
  
"Exactly." Adam responded, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his side. Blake glanced down at his hand, watching the way that the man's thumb smoothed over the fabric that wrapped around the sword. It was almost loving, the way that he touched it. "I want justice for our people, Blake. I want for humankind to understand what they have done, and give us back what we are owed. The world is standing by while the Faunus are being exploited, and I refuse to stand for any of it."   
  
"And you think that she's the way?" Blake asked, turning and staring forward to Sienna Khan once more. She had just finished speaking, and Blake hadn't managed to hear even a word of it. She'd been too busy talking to Adam, and so there was a part of her that was disappointed, but at the same time-    
  
She couldn't be.    
  
Adam stepped away from where he was standing, turning and watching her as she took a step away from the stand where she had arranged herself. "I think she is a start." Adam finally said, his voice as icy as ever. "She sees the way that things should be. Better than anyone else has."    
  
Underneath all of that, there was definitely some sort of insult that Blake didn't want to let slide. She believed in her family, and what they stood for. It wasn't as though Sienna didn't stand for the same things, or even that Adam stood for different things.    
  
They just thought that it could be dealt with in different ways.    
  
Blake sighed. "I want to see justice too." She said, after a moment that lasted for far too long. "For our people."   
  
"As you should." Adam muttered. "I'm just trying to figure out what the best part to attack is. I think that the top is a good one. Businesses that won't serve us. Academies that won't accept us."   
  
"So Atlas?"   
  
"No." Adam muttered. "Man."    
  
He took another step away from her, pushing his burning red hair away from his face as he began to prepare to leave the docks. "It's late."   
  
"It is." Blake replied, not exactly wanting to think about how she had snuck out that night. She would have to get back into her family's mansion, past the guards and without alerting any of them to her absence. It would be difficult, but if there was anything that she was getting good at, it was moving in shadows. "I should head home."   
  
Adam nodded. "You should come to the next faction meeting." He said, keeping his voice down. Almost like he was afraid to let anyone know that he was speaking, but all that Blake could think was that 'fear' wasn't a word that she would have associated with Adam. It felt wrong.    
  
"I'll try." Blake murmured without thinking, already turning to begin the walk back to her family's home.    
  
As she left the docks, she couldn't avoid the feeling that there was a pair of eyes on her back the entire time.    
  
Adam's eyes. 

* * *

 

The White Fang had official offices within Kuo Kuana, that occasionally acted as a sort of combat academy to the people of Menagerie. Most people chose to forgo this sort of training, all more interested in living their peaceful lives than they were engaging in battle of any sorts. Most were too tired to even want to bother.   
  
The official story that the academy, run by the Albain twins gave was that they taught young faunus the best ways to utilize their gifts in defense of their homes. After all, they lived on an island that was mostly desert, and the things that lived in the desert would gladly take the opportunity to tear them apart as soon as someone strayed a bit too far.    
  
Going to the academy for any reason had been Ilia's idea. She had been looking for a good way for her to better hone the use of her color shifting, and the Albains had been willing to give her an outlet in the matter.  Blake wasn't completely sure as to why she was invited along but she was willing to take the chance to get out of the house anyways.    
  
Besides, it was a chance for her to see the way that it had changed there since her father had left the White Fang. Blake couldn't think of the last time that she had been to any official facilities since. All that she had managed to attend were the faction meetings and the protests that had been within her ability to attend.    
  
The building was grand. Huge and clearly built with the idea of showcasing the White Fang’s strength in mind.    
  
When Blake and Ilia went inside, the only thing that she could see on her friend's face was the obvious look of awe at her surroundings.

Blake can't act like she doesn't feel the same way about being in the building. It almost feels like she is meant to be there, like she had always been meant to be there because the building had been constructed in the same year that she had been born. Even though she didn't get her combat training for the White Fang, there was a part of Blake that almost yearned to be able to do the same for herself as Ilia now did.    
  
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Ilia asks her. She takes a half-step back, tilting her head back at the same time so that she can get a good look at a banner that was hanging above the two of them. Blake took a look for herself, and paused when she realized what it was.    
  
It was her father's banner, but it was different. While the logo was mostly the same, the colors had been changed. The white and blue that her father had chosen had been replaced with burning red and inky black. The circle that had once surrounded the beast's head on the flag was gone, replaced with three slashes through it.    
  
The sight of the changed flag was more than enough to leave Blake feeling like her stomach was churning.    
  
"Yeah," Blake said, bringing her gaze back down to her friend. Ilia had a small smile stretched across her face, like she didn't have anywhere else in the world where she would have rather been. "It is."   
  
Ilia nodded and turned towards Blake, her skin beginning to shift to a vibrant green for just a moment before Ilia forced it back. Seeing Ilia hide herself the way that she did had always inspired a certain sadness in Blake, because she knew enough. Ilia had already told her about Atlas, about hiding herself.    
  
Ilia had the power to pass as a human, and she chose not to, but Blake still watched her friend force her traits back almost by habit because that was what felt safe.    
  
"The twins are going to train me." Ilia begins to explain, her eyes bright. "I don't have a weapon yet, so I am going to have to borrow one of theirs but-"   
  
"You're excited?" Blake asked, still watching her friend and feeling herself smile just the same way.    
  
"I am." Ilia sighed, smiling almost sweetly as she looked down at the ground. "This is my first chance to start standing for our people. And my chance to learn to defend myself."   
  
"I'm sure it'll go well." Blake said, thinking back to her own training sessions that she'd been to at her father's instruction. "Your trait-"   
  
"Makes me well suited for stealth." Ilia finished before Blake got a chance to finish what she was saying for herself. "At least, that's what Corsac said about it. And Fennec agreed."   
  
There was a thought that occured to Blake, that if she wanted and she asked nicely enough it would be possible for her to undergo training with the White Fang herself. Even if her parents didn't necessarily approve, that didn't mean that she couldn't ask. Besides, they would probably be glad to know that she was undergoing training with friends and others her age, the White Fang be damned.    
  
Ilia turned to Blake, her eyes bright and excited. "I'm sure that I'm going to be good here." She said, smiling. "At the very least I figure it'll be better than prep school in Atlas."

"I think that anything could be better than that." Blake said, smiling and joking along.   
  
"Exactly." Ilia paused, her eyes widening for a second, and Blake glanced over in the same direction that her friend was looking to see that one of the Albain twins had wandered into their view and was looking at Ilia in a way that was almost expectant. He hovered there, and Ilia sighed before looking at Blake. "I think that I have to go..."   
  
Blake watched the man at the door, recognizing him as the taller of the twins, Corsac. She sighed and looked back to Ilia. "Go." She said quietly, relaxing slightly and taking a half-step back so that she could put some space between herself and Ilia. "I'll be here."   
  
Ilia smiled and then she was going off on her own, and Blake was left alone. Ilia and Corsac dipped back out of view and Blake closed her eyes, concentrating on what she could hear for just a bit to see whether or not she could listen in on anything that the two of them were saying.    
  
But that wasn't easy, when she was in a building that had been constructed with people being able to listen in in mind. Faunus knew faunus better than anyone else, and they had learned to work around individual traits generations before. Some things, like being able to see in the dark and enhanced hearing were universal enough that nearly all buildings in Menagerie were built with them in mind.    
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps against the wooden floor. Blake wasn't able to stop her ears from twitching before opening her eyes and turning slightly. What she saw was Adam, taking a step into the same room that Blake was in. He was dressed in what appeared to be his combat gear once again, and while Blake wanted to react to that, she didn't feel quite right doing so.    
  
"Blake." He greeted her, a sly smile stretching across his face all at once. "What brings you here?"   
  
Blake let her eyes flick back down to the floor before she allowed herself to answer. "I came with a friend." She explained herself calmly. "That's all."   
  
"So you are just here so that you can be here for someone?" Adam asked, stretching as he crossed the room before leaning against a wall directly in Blake's line of sight and crossing his arms over his chest. "Not to fight?"   
  
Blake hesitated, because she wanted to be involved in the fight. She wanted it so badly that she didn't even know how she wanted to deal with it. In theory, she could have gone ahead and taken her place among the ranks of the White Fang and seen no trouble for it. If anything, if she were to go with them she was likely to be treated exceptionally well.    
  
Even if the White Fang was changing its methods, and its leadership had changed, there was still respect for her family.    
  
"I don't know." Blake finally said, hugging herself and gripping her elbows a little too tightly in the process. "I want to."   
  
"So why don't you?" Adam asked, tilting his head to the side a little bit and staring at her in a way that was able to bore into her very being. Blake couldn't do all that much to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine at it.   
  
She shrugged, unable to think of any good reason that she could give which wasn't going to come back to her family in the end. No matter what, it always went back to there because Blake didn't really know that what she wanted to do was go ahead, take her things, and leave her family behind entirely.    
  
"It's complicated." Blake finally answered, holding her head up high and meeting Adam's gaze. "I want to."   
  
Adam nodded, understanding. Blake felt something in her do a flip, but she didn't want to have to move forward and think about it too much. It was too complicated, too messy for her to focus on that entirely. "You could be making a difference, Blake." Adam said, stretching just slightly and making himself more comfortable. "Our people need justice."   
  
"And I want justice for our people."   
  
Adam pushed off from the wall and crossed the room, drawing closer to Blake with every step. He removed his sword from its sheath at his side and stood in front of Blake, holding the weapon out for her with more than enough space for her to take the hilt from him.   
  
"Then act."

Blake hesitated for a moment, reached out, and grabbed Adam’s sword by the hilt. 

Their hands brushed together, and she tried to think nothing of it.


	2. Passion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Passion_
> 
>  
> 
> noun: strong and barely controllable emotion

"You know, you could be a lot faster." He says the words like he is handing down a command while Blake drags herself back up to her feet and forces herself back upright.  
  
It's been a year since she officially joined the White Fang and took up arms for their cause, for their _people._ It wasn’t a decision that she’d doubted for so much as a second. As things stood, the plan was that they were going to be leaving Menagerie sometime during the next few weeks and then going to Mistral to serve Sienna Khan more directly, once they’d proven their worth.  
  
They were at a point where training was just a means to an end. A way to ensure that whatever happened out in Mistral would be worthwhile, and nobody would end up falling for some sort of mistake that arose along the way. It was a safety net, but that didn’t stop either of them from pulling out all of the stops.  
  
Blake stands back up, giving her blade a frustrated wave before relaxing again. "I know." She tells him, not looking over at Adam as she walks back over to one side of the impromptu training area that they had laid out to use together. "I'm trying."  
  
Adam looks back at her and there is a frown on his face. His hair has fallen down into it, making him look a little more attractive than he normally was. Normally, Blake would have felt a need to fight down a blush, but as things were and with her heart pumping as hard as it was, it felt like the blood had all rushed to her face anyways.  
  
"What?" Blake asks, swiping with Gambol Shroud at her side once more, mostly out of irritation because she _knows_ that there’s something that Adam isn’t saying.  
  
"You should use it more." Adam suggests, giving her a look that was able to communicate much more than Blake had been preparing for. "Your semblance could help you get around the battlefield faster. Not to mention the dodging."  
  
Blake pauses because yeah, her semblance _was_ a factor. One that she had been doing her best to train herself in for some time. It wasn't nearly as simple to use as she thought Adam believed. Blake was willing to see how things play out personally, but there was something about having to rely on her semblance that felt wrong to her. Regardless of how many possibilities it brough out for her. .  
  
"Right." Blake says, feeling her ears flatten out for just a second before she made herself drop back down into the fighting stance that she was so used to at that point. She gripped both parts of Gambol Shroud a little more tightly and watched as Adam reached for his sword, resting a hand on the hilt. "I'll keep that in mind."  
  
There was just that moment of silence before Blake sprang to action, rushing at Adam with a single leap that he was quick to dodge out of the way of. Just as quickly his sword was going up towards her and Blake blocked it instead of activating her semblance to jump back and put some space between the two of them.  
  
"You could still be better." Adam taunts her, grinning. It feels almost playful as he puts his weight behind an effort to push her away from him. Blake lands back over on her side of the ring, preparing herself for him to move first because she is absolutely certain that Adam will do so.  
  
She knows him, after all. The same way that she knows Ilia.  
  
Knowing how each other work in and out is so _important_. They're all partners after all, but that is something that isn't going to last for much longer, with all things considered. Blake knows that for a fact- everything that she knows tells her that Ilia is going to stay there in Menagerie. The Albain Twins think that she would have a better place there than she would in Mistral. Their reasoning had something to do with stealth, and Blake knew that Ilia had been more than disappointed by the order.

But Ilia also believed in the White Fang, and she believed in the twins. So she was going to stay, regardless of whether she wanted to or not.  
  
Blake is going to miss Ilia. The two of them have been two peas in a pod for most of their lives. The prospect of suddenly not having her friend that was... strange. She'd noticed it lately, that Ilia was doing her best to pull back and away from her. She figured that Ilia was doing her best to just distance them so that once the separation comes it won't hurt.  
  
She can't help but feel hurt by it.  
  
Adam is perhaps the saving grace in all of it. Blake can trust that he will be there a few months down the line. The two of them were going to go to Mistral together, and then...  
  
They were going to fight. The two of them had taken up arms for the sake of bringing justice for the Faunus, and that was something that wasn't going to change for so much as a second. Blake believed in the cause, and Adam believed in it just the same.  
  
Neither of them were going to let it fall apart for even a second.  
  
Adam cocks his head to the side, watching her and staring her down like he was doing his best to figure out whatever she was thinking. Blake almost wanted to shrink back from it,  but something else in her told her not to. She waited, and finally Adam allowed himself to move.  
  
He rushed at Blake so fast that she didn't have even a chance at stopping it.  
  
Blake braced herself for the blow, activated her semblance and leaped out of the way, watching herself be slashed down before she allowed herself to rush back at Adam from behind.  
  
Her blade collided with him, his aura flashing up in too-vibrant red around him. Adam let out a noise as he turned, his hair beginning to glow red and Blake's eyes widened. Adam turned, swiping at her once more and this time it caught her, the blade slashing through her aura entirely too easily. Almost like it hadn’t even been there.  
  
Blake fell away from him, landing in the dirt with a cut on her arm that she was sure was going to need some time to heal, even with her aura there to aid it.  
  
Adam was quiet. Blake picked her head up and looked over at him, and just watched as Adam walked back over towards her, his weapon once again sheathed at his side. He kneeled down next to her and offered her his hand.  
  
Blake sat up properly, taking his hand in hers gingerly and standing up properly at Adam's side.  
  
"Are you alright?" Adam asked, and Blake nodded, refusing to let tears come to her eyes and letting her hair hang down into her face.  
  
"I am." Blake confirmed. "It was an accident." She said the words, but at the same time she didn’t know that she fully believed them.  
  
"It was." Adam replied, sounding entirely too comfortable. "You could have been better."

“I know.” Blake mumbled, pulling away from Adam and looking down at her injury as she tried to figure out just how bad it was going to be. “I’m _going_ to be better.”  
  
“I believe you.” Adam raised his voice, like he was doing his best to make an announcement or an impression- possibly even both. “But I can’t make Sienna Khan believe you.”  
  
Blake frowned because yeah, that was definitely something that she needed to be thinking about. That didn’t mean that it was something that she could trust she would be able to fix easily or even soon. She sighed heavily and let herself sit down on the far edge of the clearing.  
  
“I promise,” She started, finally sheathing Gambol Shroud and setting it down at her side. “I’ll be better.”  
  
There was a quiet that settled over the space for just a moment before Adam was sitting down at her side. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he set down his weapon all the same, relaxing back and taking in a breath of air. “We both need to be good enough once we see her in person.” He muttered. “If we are going to prove ourselves and fight for the White Fang’s cause, we need to be ready."  
  
Blake hesitated and reached over for him, setting her hand on top of his in the same way that he had done for her in the past. Just offering the slightest comfort because if there was anything or anyone that she was confident she knew, it was Adam. He was her partner, after all.  
  
The two of them were going to go out there, and they were going to do everything in their power to protect their people.  
  
It was important that she knew him.  
  
Adam noticed it, and he let out a huff before forcing himself up to his feet in one fluid motion. A moment later, he was offering a hand so that he could pull Blake up to her feet himself. She went with him, and the next thing she knew there was an arm wrapping around her shoulders as the two of them walked back towards the White Fang headquarters.  
  
On the way in, they passed Ilia, and while Ilia seemed worried, neither of them said anything to her as they continued on their way to the small infirmary so that they could patch up Blake's arm together.

Blake felt Ilia’s eyes on her back, and tried to ignore it. She had other things to do.

* * *

Adam and Blake had been in Mistral for all of two months. They had shared a very brief visit to a White Fang meeting, and then after that there had been directions passed down to the two of them and they were simply cut free to do whatever it was that the two of them needed to do.  
  
It was a lot for Blake to get used to. Mistral wasn't like Menagerie was. It wasn't nearly as populated. The people there treated her and Adam differently, and Blake had absolutely no illusions as to why it was that way. After all, Mistral wasn’t like Menagerie. The people were different.  
  
She found herself thinking of how things were back in Menagerie a lot more now that she was away from there. She missed her parents and Ilia, but every time that she thought about making the call and reaching out for them, Adam reminded her that they were there in Mistral to fight. If she were to make a call home, then she would risk exposing what they were up to.  
  
"Besides," he'd said. "They probably don't want to know that you are going to be attacking a shop that won't serve us. Let them think you’re out carrying signs."  
  
Adam had been right, so Blake didn't call.  
  
The current plan was that she and Adam were going to take their things, and they were going to go and attack a shop sometime during the afternoon. There had been more than enough reports about Faunus being turned away, and that was all that they needed. Killing wasn’t in the plans, but they were going to go and they were going to send a message.

As long as they weren’t going to be killing, Blake was fine with what they were doing.

That didn’t mean that Adam was.

“I don’t like that we’re being forced to wait.” Adam snarled as he paced back and forth in their shared tent. The two of them weren’t the only ones in their group by far, but people had understood once Blake and Adam had arrived that they were going to be staying together. Blake wasn’t personally a fan of sharing her space like they were, but she knew Adam so it was okay.

“It’s just until morning.” Blake replied, her book resting in her lap. “We’re going to be fine.”

“I just want to be able to go out there and fight.” Adam groaned, taking his seat beside Blake and reaching over to pluck the book away from her. “The humans need to know-”

“And they will.” Blake responded, reaching over for her book and fighting back a blush.

Adam let out a small sound, akin to a laugh as Blake took her book back for herself. She slipped a bookmark into place before setting it down beside her since Adam now had her attention, like she figured he’d wanted. “We’re going to go ahead, and we’re going to get this done.”  
  
“I just wish that it didn't have to take so long.” Adam muttered, looking over at Blake in that way that told her that he was doing his best to pick her apart. “Imagine how much we could get done if we weren’t stuck waiting around because Sienna Khan says so."  
  
And yeah, that was something that was hard not to think about. Blake needed to relax, and that was something that was just fine. "We need a plan." Blake finally said, a moment later. "Tomorrow we'll do the strike, and then we move on. Nobody gets hurt, we make an impression, and then we do the next job when it comes in."  
  
She watched as Adam pushed herself upright and walked across the clearing, his back turned to her."I know that you're right."  
  
"Then you'll be patient."  
  
For just a moment, Adam's shoulders seemed to tense with frustration before it ebbed away just as quickly. He sighed, hanging his head. "You're right." He mumbled. "I will."  
  
Blake got up and crossed the clearing herself, setting a hand on Adam's shoulder when she reached him finally. "Tomorrow." Blake said, doing her best to ignore the ache in her arm where she'd been injured. "We should get some rest."  
  
She walked to the tent and slipped inside, and a few minutes later Adam was coming in and sitting down to rest beside her while Blake took her time to wrap the injury.  
  
The morning would come, and they would manage to survive it.

* * *

 

Adam was fuming, and had been for most of the evening. The two of them had gone through a strike that morning, and had run into trouble on the way out. The words that had been exchanged had been a bit... much.  
  
Blake personally hadn't been able to get them out of her head just yet. That's why she was sitting on her and Adam's bed with a ribbon that she had cut and trying to tie it onto her head, over and over again. Trying to find the best way to hide herself behind it.  
  
"I can't believe that _human_ had the nerve to-" Adam spat the words out, pacing back and forth in the tent and looking like he was about to punch something. "We were defending our people. We were trying to fight for the betterment of the Faunus, and he had the nerve to call us _monsters._ "  
  
He stopped dead in his tracks, turning his gaze onto Blake now. "Why are you doing this, Blake?" Adam snarled as he stalked every closer to her. "I thought that you were _proud_ to be a Faunus."  
  
" _I am proud_ ." Blake snapped back, setting the ribbon back down in the space beside herself. "But if I can make our lives easier by being able to blend into crowds, then I am going to try and do that."  
  
"You shouldn't." Adam muttered, his voice too dark and too angry. "You should be showing them with pride. Letting humanity see what you have that makes you _better_ than them."  
  
Blake paused, because there was something in Adam's words that she didn't like. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and forced herself to relax. "It's just temporary."

Adam all but shouted back at her. “ _And what if it isn’t_ ?”  
  
Blake goes silent, unable to think of a good response because she can’t help the feeling that tells her that whatever she ends up saying might not matter that much in the end. She turns to him, locking her eyes with Adam’s. “It won’t be.” She said, feeling her ears beginning to flatten back. "Just... let me try."  
  
"I don't like it." Adam murmured, his eyes glued to Blake and feeling all too intense as he stares her down. Blake wants to shrink back for just a second, but doesn't allow for herself to follow the urge. "You shouldn't look like them."  
  
And that was enough to make Blake stop, the ribbon still clutched between her fingers as she sat there. The fabric was smooth, satiny. It was going to do the trick when she figured out how to tie it the right way. For a second, she thinks of Ilia and her color changing skin. She thinks of her mother, and how she had always tried to fuss over her hair when she'd been a girl.  
  
Did her mother try to hide herself like this as well?  
  
Blake sighs. "I don't want to look like them." She said, keeping her voice down and not bringing herself to meet Adam's eyes. "It's just so that I can blend in and keep from getting noticed."  
  
Adam took a step in towards her, and Blake felt his hand settle on her shoulder for just a moment. It rested there, a gentle thumb smoothing over her skin lovingly before Adam spoke up. "Promise me this isn't permanent."  
  
"I promise." Blake responded, letting her eyes slip shut as she allowed herself to relax more into Adam's touch than she needed to. "Just believe me."  
  
"I will." Adam replied, his voice dark. "For now." And just like that he was pulling away, and Blake allowed herself to open her eyes and watch as he stalked over towards the other side of the tent, his back straight and his head held high.  
  
The day had bothered him, that's something that Blake is more than well aware of. She hadn't wanted to upset him more, but she knew Adam. He had thrown his entire livelihood into fighting for the Faunus and for him to think about the possibility of her just deciding to roll over and pass as a human...  
  
It had to hurt. It had to light something deep in him on fire.  
  
Blake wondered if jealousy was a part of it, but didn't dare voice the possibility. She knew Adam, he would explode if the suggestion was even whispered within his earshot.  
  
She set the ribbon down on the bed beside her and spoke up a moment later. "Come here." She suggested, keeping her eyes glued onto Adam now. "We have a lot to get ready for."  
  
"I know." He grumbled.  
  
"So we should plan for it." Blake said, watching as he turned slowly and his eyes met hers. Adam sighed and crossed the room, sinking down onto the bed beside her. Blake leaned in towards him, letting their shoulders brush together before speaking up. "We're doing well, Adam."

"I just want to do more."  
  
"And we will." Blake said, letting her hand drift over to Adam's and giving it a gentle squeeze. "We just have to be patient."  
  
Adam nodded, but Blake couldn't help feeling that it wasn't from an agreement.


	3. Spite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Spite:_ a desire to hurt, annoy, or offend someone.

Things weren't getting better on the whole. Blake felt like she had been watching things change for her entire life, shifting and rearranging themselves, and yet things weren't getting  _ better _ . People still treated her, Adam, and their people like garbage. They still found themselves locked out of certain establishments, or being ridiculed on the streets.

Menagerie was still treated as though it didn't exist, despite being on par with the other kingdoms in many ways.    
  
Blake was angry.    
  
Blake was tired.    
  
One morning she got up early and went to meet with Adam. He hadn't been sleeping well, and Blake couldn't help but be aware of that fact. It wasn't as though the two of them weren't doing well.    
  
They were both tired. The two of them had been fighting for a long time looking for something that seemed like it would never come.    
  
"Adam?" Blake asked when she stepped into the other part of their tent, separated away by a hanging blanket. He was sitting at the table, hunched over something and Blake was... curious. It was possible that he was just doing routine weapon maintenance on Wilt and Blush, but Blake wasn't sure. It didn’t look like that was the case.   
  
He picked his head up and glanced back at her out of the corner of his eye. "Hello Blake." He greeted her. "You should be sleeping."   
  
"I couldn't." Blake replied, craning her neck a little bit as she walked in closer to him. "What are you doing up?"   
  
"I couldn't sleep either." Adam muttered, his voice angry. "And we have work to prepare for."   
  
And that was true, but there was definitely something more to the story.    
  
Finally, Blake saw what Adam was doing.    
  
She didn't know where he had gotten it. It looked like it was a mask of some sort, that had once been shaped one way and then had been cut at with a small tool until it was shaped differently. Beside Adam, there was a small pot of bright red paint and a brush, and there was also his scroll, displaying a photo of a grimm.    
  
"What... are you doing then?" Blake asked, watching as Adam dipped the brush into the paint once more. He leaned in towards the mask, painting clean lines over it, mimicking the markings on the grimm in the photo.   
  
Adam turned and set the mask back down, looking up at Blake. "You're wearing the bow, even though you don’t like it." He said, keeping his voice down. "I decided that I wanted to wear something of my own."   
  
"So you're making... a mask?"   
  
"Yes." Adam replied. "If humanity intends on treating the faunus as monsters, then we may as well be the monsters that they are so afraid of." His hand balled into a fist at his side, and Blake saw the way that he clenched his teeth together. "Perhaps that way they will learn to fear us and treat us as we should be."   
  
Blake blinked. "That's... dark."   
  
"I know." Adam replied. "But I want to make it so that when they see me on the other side of a fight, they will  _ never  _ be able to forget it."

Blake hesitated, because Adam was correct in his assessment. If someone saw a man in a grimm mask attacking them, it was the sort of thing that would leave an impression in their mind. Grimm were the tormentors of their world. How could anyone even forget it?   
  
Adam glanced back over at her though, clearly looking for some sort of reaction her that Blake wasn't quite able to give. She sighed and pulled up a seat, taking the space at Adam's side. "I think that would work."   
  
He just looked over at her and leaned back in his seat, making himself comfortable. Adam reached out for her slowly, brushing her cheek with his hand, running a thumb over her cheekbone. There was something wet on it, and Blake knew that he had just left a red smear across her face. "You could wear one with me."   
  
She closed her eyes, allowing herself to just barely nuzzle into Adam's touch. "I think I prefer my bow."   
  
Adam frowned and pulled back away from her, a little too violently. Blake felt like her cheek was burning. "That's a shame." He muttered. "You should go back to bed."   
  
Blake felt the urge to flatten back her ears, but decided against it. She got up, walked over to Adam and pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then made her way off back to bed.    
  
For just a moment, she caught a glance at her reflection, the red smear of blood-red paint on her cheekbone.    
  
She washed it off as quickly as she could and tried her best to forget it.

* * *

 

Adam's mask had left an impression on the faunus of the White Fang in Mistral, and then when they had gone to Vale not long after, it left an impression there too.    
  
Blake wasn't sure what to think at all the first time that she watched someone other than Adam don a mask of their own. It was of the same shape, and the color was off- more grey instead of bone white, and there wasn't even a dot of red to be seen there.    
  
Not long after, attacks and hijackings seemed to get more and more common.    
  
Adam had followers, and Blake realized that she was seen as his lieutenant to many. His right hand.    
  
A part of her resented it, because there was something very wrong with the life that she was now living. She didn't like that things had gotten progressively more violent in their attacks, she didn't like that Adam had gotten more distant and harsh.    
  
The problem with Adam, Blake realized, was that he was good at talking. He could talk and convince people that he was speaking for justice, and in the same breath that he would discuss those that had been hurt by the humans, he would send another message altogether.    
  
That they deserved retribution.    
  
Blake knew that things were changing. She knew that there were fewer places turning them away. She knew that humanity was starting to fear missteps because of what the White Fang would do if they heard.    
  
Humanity wasn't wrong to be afraid.    
  
The real problem came one night after a raid.    
  
Adam had come in reeking of blood, his clothes soaked most of the way through. 

It was clear by the way that he was moving that the blood was not his own.

Blake was having a hard time wiping the previous hours from her mind herself. It had been meant to be a raid just like any other. Go in, break a few windows and cause some chaos, and then get out without anyone getting hurt.    
  
And that would have worked, if not for the fact that someone had decided that they wanted to fight back against them instead.    
  
Adam had fought for a little while, and Blake had been willing to go along with the fight, trying to just get them out of the problem without anyone getting killed. She'd only been aiming to incapacitate, but Adam-    
  
He'd had different ideas.    
  
The scent of it was still clinging to him.    
  
"I can't believe you." Blake said, a little too quickly as she went into her and Adam's tent. One of his lieutenants hanged back by the door for a moment too long, and Adam shot him a look before he was gone.    
  
Blake didn't even begin to feel any less rattled by what was happening.    
  
"It was what we had to do." Adam snapped back, his voice too rough and obviously snarling. "He deserved it."   
  
"Did he, Adam?" Blake responded, feeling her ears flatten back entirely as she allowed herself to bare her teeth. "Because that was too much. That was overkill and nobody had to-"   
  
"He was going to cause us other problems." Adam stared her down and stalked towards her before placing himself directly in Blake's space, penning her in by the wall in the process. "I would have done the same to you if you'd done the same."   
  
"You wouldn't have."   
  
"Try me." Adam snarled back, and he moved his arm in the way that told Blake that he was holding his sword towards her, the same way that he did any other time that he was threatening someone. "That human  _ needed  _ to die, because he has hurt our people Blake. That is what mattered. Not whatever you are so concerned with."   
  
Blake took a step back, glad that she had her own weapon at her back because it was entirely possible that she was going to need it. "I don't want to do this anymore."   
  
"This is what they deserved." Adam muttered into her ear, his voice low and dark. "Don't you ever forget it."   
  
Blake took another step back, towards the entrance to their tent. "I'm going for a walk."   
  
"Don't forget to come back." Adam growled, just as Blake lingered by the flap of the tent, her hand on the canvas. She glared back at him over her shoulder, and a thousand different possible responses went through her mind that she could have used.    
  
She could have just left if she wanted it, but if she did-   
  
Blake didn't know that she would be able to forgive herself for it.    
  
For now, she would do her best to forget that this had happened, and she would try to get the scent of blood out of her nostrils because it felt like it was never going to leave her, until the day that she died.    
  
Blake hated it. She hated everything about it.    
  
She hated  _ him _ .

* * *

 

Something else had changed, and Blake didn't know what. All that she knew was that she was seeing changes- obvious, real troubling changes and she didn't know what she was supposed to do or say about any of them.   
  
It wasn't as though she and Adam had never been involved in a robbery before. It wouldn't even have been their first time going out of their way to disrupt Schnee Dust Company cargo before it got a chance to reach its destination.   
  
And still, she wasn't sure what to make of what was coming.   
  
Something had happened, and Adam had kept all the details from her as she'd approached after the humans that had come to their camp to meet had already leave. Blake didn't know a thing, she just knew that it had Adam on edge.   
  
With what was about to come for them, that had Blake afraid because she didn't have even the slightest idea as to how the plans that had already been made would be derailed.   
  
It would depend on Adam, she supposed. As for her, she was dedicated to getting the job done and doing it right. That's what she needed to do. Blake wasn't going to forget about it either.   
  
Still, the feeling that there was something wrong buzzed in the back of her mind incessantly.   
  
Adam called for her from the place where she'd decided to sit and wait, and Blake went.   
  
The train was hurtling through Forever Fall, and they sat in wait, both of them armed to the teeth and both of them prepared for just about anything that they might face. It wasn't as though the two of them hadn't talk about what they might have to expect, it was quite the contrary.   
  
The fact of the matter was that this was something unlike anything that either of them had done before.  
  
Breaking into shops was one thing. Pushing and fighting at protests on the streets was one thing.   
  
Robbing a train was something else entirely, the scale much larger than anything that either of them had touched before. It was a test in all likelihood, but Blake knew what things were like those days.   
  
People weren't necessarily following the White Fang in their camp as much as they were just following Adam.   
  
And Adam was getting dangerous.   
  
As the train came into sight Blake and Adam exchanged a few words, just enough to ensure that both of them knew exactly what the plans were moving forward, and then the two of them were sprinting after it and boarding.   
  
Blake felt like her mind was going a million miles an hour as the robots turned on them. She did what she had to in order to get the two of them out alive. The good thing was that the robots were just that- robots.   
  
When the plan had first come to light it had been obvious that there were going to be real, flesh and blood crew somewhere on the train. Blake didn't have any doubts that they were around, but for the moment she felt almost secure knowing that they weren't coming into contact with people.   
  
Still, days later, there was still the scent of blood sticking in her nose and making her sick.

Adam wouldn't allow her to rest, that much was clear. That became clear the second that he passed down the command that she needed to move on to the next car while he set explosive charges.    
  
It set off alarms in Blake's head because what they had gone into this expecting to do had been to destroy some cargo. Not for them to set charges and-    
  
"What about the crew members?" Blake asked, clinging onto the edges of desperation as she looked up at Adam. She didn't want to be responsible if this was going to be the way that things went. Even if Adam was the one to take the lead in everything that was going on, Blake knew that she wasn't going to be able to relax or calm down.   
  
"What about them?" Adam returned, and Blake felt sick.    
  
She couldn't do this.    
  
But if she were to just run-   
  
The fact that the two of them were both armed to the teeth was something that didn't escape her. The fact that she had a semblance that could only do so much to protect her couldn't escape her.    
  
If she tried to run, she had no doubts that Adam would look for some sort of retribution. Some return because she had done something to wrong them.    
  
In a way, an attack from a spider droid was a blessing, but Blake didn't like that she was the one having to go into battle while Adam hanged back charging for something more. He was going to need to be able to charge his semblance, that was true, but still, Blake couldn't help but feel like he was willing for her to be a sacrifice.    
  
But they were in trouble, and they needed to get out of there. The two of them needed to get off of that train alive, and Blake was going to need Adam to get it done.    
  
He sliced through the grimm in one strike, his semblance lighting up the world and Blake feeling tired and frustrated with everything.   
  
It was over.    
  
She had to make some sort of decision.   
  
It almost felt like all of her experiences with Adam came to her all at once, and Blake made a decision.    
  
With one clean slice, she decoupled the train cars, and drifted away from Adam, him still in her sighs but neither of them moving to pursue the others.   
  
When Adam finally disappeared from her line of sight, Blake realized that she felt a sort of relief for it.    
  
It wouldn't last though, because it wasn't long after that Blake came to the realization that she was going to need to find her own path forward. The White Fang was no place for her anymore, regardless of her feelings on the group's cause.    
  
Blake was still going to fight for equality, she just didn't know how she was going to do it. Either way, it was going to be done with her away from Adam.    
  
If she was lucky, then she would never see him again.    
  
Blake didn't imagine that she would be that fortunate.    
  
Adam acted solely out of spite, after all.

If anything, it would be a matter of time before he reared his head in her life again, wearing the face of a monster when he was the thing she feared more.

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take new prompts and questions there!</](http://tyrian-callows.tumblr.com/)


End file.
